Chance Meetings
by HeliosSol
Summary: Fate is a fickle thing, making decisions made on a whim. What if four orphans, fed up with the loneliness and darkness that isolation brings, decided to become each other's family? How will the world change due to the occurrence if just a few chance meetings? The bonds forged from struggle are stronger than even those of blood after all...
1. The First

**CHAPTER 1 **

Six-year-old Uzumaki Naruto let out a pitiful whimper as the cold December air bit into his small malnourished body. He tilted the ratty cardboard sheet towards the direction of the wind in a hopeless attempt to fight off the chill. Wearing nothing but a pair of long grey second-hand pants and what may have once been a white shirt but now looked more like rags made of pure mud, he was ill-prepared for such weather. Ever since the orphanage had been struck by lightning and subsequently burned down almost three months ago, the blond child had been living on the streets, keeping himself alive by eating whatever scraps he managed to acquire before other gutter rats managed to snatch it up. He curled into himself as tightly as possible, tucking himself as deep as he could into the dark alley preparing once again for a long night of waking up to chattering teeth and painfully numb limbs. As he slowly fell into the dark peaceful embrace of sleep, he never heard the joyful yells of children as they played games (which he had never been able to partake in) and ran amock, nor did he hear the (poorly) muffled giggles and light footfalls approaching the alley.

* * *

Little Haruno Sakura lived an average, yet happy life. Her mother, Mebuki, was an instructor at one of the few prestigious civilian academies and her father Kizashi (who-at one point in his life- had been a Genin, yet retired when his precious daughter was born) was the owner of a quaint clothing store in the merchant sector of Konoha. She had never been in need of anything in life as, while not exceedingly rich, her family was fairly wealthy. She was an innocent, if not a little shy, girl. Some would say she lived in her own perfect little world!

So when she came upon a small blond boy hiding behind a cardboard sheet in a fairly dark and decrepit alley, she could hardly be blamed for thinking that he was just playing a very high-stakes game of hide-and-seek. As little Sakura approached the boy, she began to notice his raggedy clothes (which could hardly be classified as such) and the dirt and soot which covered almost the entirety of his body.

She began to notice the small seemingly inconsequential items littered around the alley, a water bottle here, a little bag there, a broken rusty kunai next to it. These items were far from uncommon in an alleyway, more often than not they were littered with such miscellaneous items. Most children would notice the items and then forget about them just as quick. But little Sakura was extremely intelligent for her age, and she began to connect the items with the little boy curled up in the back of the alley. It began to dawn on her that the small, sickly-looking boy was _not_, in fact_,_ playing a game of hide and seek, and this alley was _not _a convenient hiding spot; it was his _home. _And so upon this realization, little innocent Haruno Sakura took her first step towards exiting out of her perfect little world.

* * *

Naruto was experiencing a terrible nightmare. He did not see any monsters- no- in fact, he barely saw anything but a red haze and a silhouette of a woman above him( behind which seemed to stand a man). He did not hear horrifying screams of the dead or the horrid sounds of creatures that went bump in the night, no he heard a soothing, if not faint, voice. This would have been nothing but an unexceptional (if slightly strange) dream were it not for the terrible, horrid feelings of pure loss and despair ,combined almost impossibly with joy that made him feel like he was going to erupt in loud whoops and yells, that made him want to hurl up whatever tiny portions of food he had managed to scrape by with. So strong were these emotions that the young blond wanted to desperately return to the ruthless cold and the aching ribs, and the painfully empty stomach in the real world so it was with relief that Naruto witnessed the horrid scene slip away into a black void and he felt his conscious begin to stir. When Uzumaki Naruto next awoke it was not, as he had predicted, to the biting cold of the winter gales but to a tiny hand shaking him awake.

* * *

When the boy's eyes snapped open, Sakura gave a startled yelp. She quickly scrambled back to a safe distance. When she finally took note of the eyes whose sudden alertness had scared her so, she was startled yet again- this time in awe. She gazed upon the most beautiful set of eyes she had ever seen. Against the backdrop of the boy's dirty ashen face (which looked like he had come from working straight from a coal mine she noted offhandedly), those cerulean orbs seemed to glow almost unnaturally. Looking closer, she saw that there were tiny specs of gold pigmentation in his eyes making it seem as if there were small rays of the sun coming out of his pupil. Those eyes were so unnaturally alluring, glowed with such intensity, that they belonged on an angel of Kami-sama herself. So caught up on his eyes was she that she did not notice when he had stood up and was almost nose-to-nose with her.

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes, his sight was obscured by bright light pink. As he became more and more aware, he realized that said pink obstruction was a curtain of hair, bright and silky and _pink_ hair. As the owner of said (_**pink**_) hair quickly scrambled back, Naruto began to observe more of her. She seemed young-around his age if he were to guess- and had fair skin. Her eyes were a bright emerald color. She wore what a simple forest green shirt over which was a bright white winter coat and on her bottom half she wore a pair of thick tan pants that were tucked into a pair of brown leather boots. On her hands, she wore fluffy pink mittens and there was what appeared to be pink earmuffs covering her ears. All in all, Naruto decided, she looked like the typical merchant's daughter.

"Hi! I'm Naruto!" He introduced himself exuberantly as scrambled close to the stunned girl.

Sakura, taken aback by his sudden proximity and burst of energy, receded into her coat and tried to make herself as small as possible. " 'M Sakura", she said shyly.

"Do you wanna be my friend?", his exuberance persisted

" 'Kay" she replied, this time with much more confidence, his exuberance seemingly contagious.

And like that, the lonely young Uzumaki Naruto made his first-ever friend, and little innocent Haruno Sakura made her first friend that did not live in a perfect world. Just like that a bond was made, a bond that currently was almost non-existent, yet one that would grow so strong that _nothing_ could break it, perhaps not even death itself, and the fate of four people changed forever.


	2. The First pt 2

"Is this your home?" Sakura looked around, feeling a little uncomfortable. It had been around 3 weeks since she had first met Naruto, and since then she had managed to visit the alley nearly every other day. The two children had gotten close to each other, though Sakurastill knew very little about her newest friend.

"Don't got a home" he averted his eyes as he said this, as if embarrassed by his own response.

"What do you mean you don't have a home!?"

"Don't got one". Naruto held a confused expression as he said this. Why was Sakura making a big deal about this?

"Everyone has a home! How can you not have a home!? What about your parents?" Why was he being so nonchalant? Sakura knew she wouldn't be so carefree if she did not have a home! How was he being so casual?

"I dunno, jus' don't got one", he replied. "What's a parent?"

"...what?" she whispered, a horrified expression on her face. "You don't have parents?"

"I dunno. What's that? Is it a type of ramen?! Is it tasty?!" His face lit up like the sun at the thought of ramen. "I've had ramen before. It was really really good. I wanna eat it 'gain! It's my favorite food...! I think."

"I….I'll get you some ramen later. I have to go home now ok? I'll come back tomorrow, promise!". Sakura was on autopilot. She was dazed; the thought of being without her home or her parents frightened her, and she was feeling almost sick at the fact that Naruto had to deal with such things.

When he replied with an exuberant " 'Kay, bye 'Kura" and a wave, she promptly turned on her heels and left, deep in thought (as deep as any six year old could be anyhow). She would have to talk to her parents about this new development. She didn't understand how someone could not have a home or parents. It made no sense to her. She paid no attention to the world around her as she walked on her way home, barely noticing the black-haired boy around her age that bumped into her.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was a quiet and congenial boy. Being the son of a clan head, he had to be. Like many noble children , however, he was quite prideful- some might call him arrogant. It was because of this arrogance that he was following after his elder brother (whom on any other occasion, he would adore) with great reluctance.

Sasuke looked around in disdain. "Itachi, why are we in this disgusting place?" he questioned loudly.

"Mind your tongue little brother. We are here on behalf of our clan. It would do well to not upset the people we will soon be interacting with." Itachi was eight years older than his brother Sasuke ( who himself was only seven years of age).

Unlike his slightly arrogant younger brother, Itachi was notably more humble; a feat most impressive for heirs of the noble clans, doubly so for the eldest child of the Lord of a clan as noble as the Uchiha.

"What do you mean on behalf of the clan? What would our clan have to do in a place like… this?" Sasuke gestured with poorly concealed disgust to the ramshackle houses and the repugnant waste littered about.

"We are here representing the Uchiha police force. Something which you will one day be the head of foolish little brother. You'd do well to show respect to those you do not know. You never know who you may be insulting in the future." Itachi loved his little brother more than anything in the world. Yet it was this love that led to him being strict with his brother.

Their mother babied Sasuke, sheltering him from the reality of the world, and their father all but ignored him; preferring to give most of his attention to Itachi (and Itachi held an inkling that Sasuke resented him for this even if only a little.)

It was up to Itachi to truly make sure that his foolish little brother grew up to be a respected and powerful shinobi, one greater than even Itachi himself would become.

"What does it matter who I'm insulting? We are Uchi-oof" Sasuke was rudely cut off as someone bumped into him.

"Hey!", he yelled, turning to rant at the person foolish enough to knock the wind out of the heir of the Uchiha.

"How dare you-" He was cut off by the sight that he saw: a flurry of pink, hurrying away. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" His shouts had no effect on the pink-haired girl as she continued on ignoring him, rushing away to whatever destination awaited her.

"Take this as a lesson Sasuke", Itachi began "She doesn't know that she bumped into and ignored a clan heir. Our name may hold political sway, but to someone who doesn't know of or acknowledge it- well they can' be pushed around by it."

Sasuke heard his brother's voice, and he understood what he was saying, but it was all so distant- muffled almost. Yes, he heard his brother, but it was in one ear and out the other. How could it not be when he was still entranced by such a beautiful shade of pink?


End file.
